Today, I want to share the story of a very special experience I recently had.
My acquaintance with Dissection dates back, as most of my magical experiences involving Metal, to my days as a young metalhead, when I first heard "Thorns of Crimson Death" on an internet radio station.
A very short while afterward, Dissection were supposed to play a gig in Israel. I was stoked. I already had a ticket and was looking forward to the meet and greet event at a local record store.
But life had other plans. Seemingly out of the blue, Jon decided to leave this world of his own accord without stopping by to say his farewell. I can still recall the shock I felt upon hearing about Dissection’s unexpected end. Ever since then, their art feels even more powerful to me. Whenever I listen to “Storm of The Light’s Bane”, I can’t help but feel as if the heart wrenchingly beautiful melodies in this release are already mourning Dissection's unexpected end.
Dissection's unique take on extreme metal went on to influence the musical style of my debut album, Ensorcelled, especially in the acoustic passages.
I thought that collaborating on a Dissection track alone would be a full circle moment, but the selection of the song itself transformed it into an even more powerful experience.
Have you ever had a time when a certain abstract concept you’ve been contemplating suddenly became clear by a strange coincidence of events in which this concept came to life many different ways?
As you may know from my previous posts, my country has been at war for almost a year. Recently, the northern part got itself involved as well. I remember the dread of waking up to hear the news one morning in late September and then the missile alerts - almost every day.
On top of that that, there were a couple of shocking experiences on a more personal level which I absolutely did not anticipate.
As much as we would like to have it otherwise, life happens fast, and absolute control is an illusion. The immutability of any material object as well as immortality too, are nothing more than childish illusions.
This beautiful hymn to Great Kali, Destroyer of Illusion, in which I had the honor to participate created a very important moment in the process of contemplating these concepts through direct experience. This song reminded me once again that it cannot be otherwise. The material world is finite and ever changing. Singing along to Jon's words gave me great power and motivation to further meditate upon this aspect of existence through direct observation.
As shocking as all these events were, I owe it to Great Kali and her fearsome ways of teaching, for reminding me of this important principle behind the true nature of our material reality. Given the many absurd and ridiculous ways in which our times seem to deny this principle, its daily contemplation becomes even more crucial.
Therefore, I pray to be able to contemplate this principle of material reality in every waking moment, with the same depth and intensity as I did when I rehearsed for the recording of Maha Kali. Perhaps this process of meditation will finally grant me a firsthand understanding of my true nature and the much-coveted gift of spiritual freedom.
Until then, I can only say “Namo Namah” - my most humble salutation and gratitude to the great Mother for thus manifesting herself to me through recent events.
And now, in earthlier, yet nevertheless significant terms, I would like to thank Jay Parker and all other members of Immortal Sun for inviting me to this collaboration which ultimately led me to this very special experience. The fact that the rest of Immortal Sun are from Egypt is to me, another great aspect of this collaboration. As a fellow middle easterner, my vision for our shared future is to see many more cross-middle eastern artistic collaborations instead of wars.
Last but not least, a great thanks goes once again to Sandra K and Infernal Darkness radio for promoting the single.
Listen to the single right here:
P.S. this cover of Maha Kali will be included in Immortal Sun’s latest EP “Death and The Devil”, which is scheduled for release on Yule (21/12/2024). Let’s celebrate the rebirth of the sun with some powerful Black Metal!
Hope to be back with more updates soon,
Very soon.